Miami Heat president Pat Riley, no stranger to tearing things down before building something bigger and better, sold his bayfront mansion in Miami last March for $16.8 million, and now, according to the Miami Herald, the Mediterranean-style house will be torn down.

Turns out, the Herald reported, the lure was the lot: a rare finger of prime land, nearly two acres, jutting into Biscayne Bay.

Pat Riley sold his Miami mansion for $16.8 million. The former home of the Heat president will be torn down for its valuable land. (AP Photo)

The existing 12,856-square-foot house in Gables Estates, built in 1991, has a theater, wine cellar, library and a sprawling pool with waterfalls and an aqua bar.

But in December, the buyer—listed as 180 Arvida LLC represented by Miami attorney Mark Hasner—presented the city of Coral Gables with plans to raze the mansion and construct another estate along the 900 linear feet of bayfront.

“Most people would move in and be perfectly happy, but clients are looking for perfection—really good stuff,” said Jorge Uribe, a senior vice president at One Sotheby’s International Realty, who wasn’t involved in Riley's transaction but sold an even bigger trophy property last year: a $39.4 million estate in Indian Creek Village, dubbed “Miami’s Billionaire Bunker” by Forbes magazine.

One Sotheby’s International also was the listing agent for what the Herald describes at “the jaw-dropping home” of New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez when he put it on the market for $38 million. He since has taken it off the market and rented it out, according to the newspaper.